Just when you think things are going along fine, they aren't.

I got a phone call today, from the principal of Riley's school. It seems she was making her rounds at lunch and came across Riley and a group of kids. She said Riley was really upset and banging his head against the wall-that's new, and very alarming to me. She asked him what was wrong and he expressed his unhappiness about the teasing he endures (daily) about his size. I know he's mentioned that a few boys in PE like to ask him how tall he is, and tell him he's short. This bugs Riley, and he can't ignore them. We talk about this and talk about this. I guess today he reached his limit and had a meltdown, at lunch, at school, tears and head banging. It is heartbreaking. How frustrated he must have been to have hit his own head against the wall! These taunting boys are not from PE, they are random kids who don't even know Riley. All they know is that they can say stuff to him and make him mad. The principal called me to tell me what she planned to do, to help correct the situation. She was going to talk to the PE teacher (although these boys are not from PE, perhaps the harassment from those boys at PE can be handled). She's also going to put another reminder in the daily bulletin that name calling and teasing is NOT tolerated and kids can be suspended for it. She'll also talk to some of the other kids around at the time to see if any of them know these boys. She got him calmed down and sent him to his next class. I appreciated that she got involved. It must have been alarming to her to that he was standing there, crying, hitting his head against the wall. I know it makes me want to cry.

I am so sick of my kid bearing the brunt of these little jackasses. He just can't fight back. There was another incident in PE this afternoon (after the lunch incident), where the teasing started again about his size-oh and it was the mile run day which didn't improve his mood. The kids compared Riley's size to that of a female classmate. Riley's response, "Well at least she's good at sports." See? He can't fight back. A response like that just leads to more taunting. He doesn't get it. He doesn't get why they are mean to him. He doesn't get that these are normal kid behaviors (yes, they are mean though). He just doesn't get it.

The principal couldn't get over the fact that he didn't know any of their names. I explained to her that he doesn't really use names. The only person he calls by name is Quinn. He doesn't call Kevin and I anything. He rarely calls his grandparents anything. He just doesn't use names. He just starts talking. I don't know why. In all fairness though, Riley does not know these boys, so he certainly wouldn't know their names. He wouldn't even think to ask their names. He has no classes with any of them. They are complete jackass strangers. I will email the principal tonight to update her on what we discussed with him, and that these kids are complete strangers to him. He was still bothered by it when he got home. It's just no fun to be the target all the time. I guess his friends do nothing to stand up for him either. I must call that endocrinologist back tomorrow to find out what the results of his testing were. She never called back, and we need to know if he can be a part of that study, so we can get moving and see if we can get him to grow.

Please keep your fingers crossed that the regional center calls soon too so that we can get this testing done, and find out exactly where he falls on the autism spectrum. This has been such a hard school year for him. Next year has to be better, right? Maybe public school is not for him. I don't know what the answer is. All I know is that he is frustrated and I am frustrated. 27 days until summer and then I get happy Riley back.